"Bugbear dominates the chart for the second month as it continues to
out-fox users with its dual mode of attack - this worm can spread via
email and network shares," said Graham Cluley, senior technology
consultant, Sophos Anti-Virus. "It's important that all users ensure
they are protected against Bugbear because it implants code that can log
victims' keystrokes. This means hackers have a perfect view of
everything you type - this could include passwords, bank account details
and credit card numbers."

Also making a big impact this month was the new Braid worm. This is an
email aware worm with an attachment. However, if the recipient's system
is left unpatched against a Microsoft vulnerability, the virus can run
automatically, as soon as the offending email is opened. Alongside
keeping anti-virus protection up to date, Sophos reminds users to patch
against all known vulnerabilities and be suspicious of all unsolicited
emails.

The FunLove worm and Spaces virus make chart comebacks even though
protection against these threats was issued back in 1999.

Sophos detected 817 new viruses, worms and Trojan horses in November,
the total number it now protects against is 78,381.

The top ten hoaxes reported to Sophos during November 2002 are as
follows:

"All too often, users receiving email warnings of viruses circulate them
to all their contacts in the mistaken belief they are doing good. In
reality, these actions cause uncertainty, waste bandwidth, clog up email
servers and spread disinformation," continued Cluley. "Instead,
businesses should instruct all employees to send all such emails to a
single, nominated person who is responsible for checking out whether the
threat is real or fake."

Sophos has made available a free, constantly updated information feed
for intranets and websites which means users can always find out about
the latest viruses and hoaxes: www.sophos.com/virusinfo/infofeed/

Spotlight

Microsoft Edge, the new browser in Windows 10, represents a significant increase in the security over Internet Explorer. However, there are also new potential threat vectors that arenít present in older versions.

35 percent of employees would sell information on company patents, financial records and customer credit card details if the price was right. This illustrates the growing importance for organizations to deploy data loss prevention strategies.

Sun Tzu's writings have been studied throughout the ages by professional militaries and can used to not only answer the question of whether or not we are in a cyberwar, but how one can fight a cyber-battle.

Infosec consultant Paul Moore came up with a working solution to thwart a type of behavioral profiling. The result is a Chrome extension called Keyboard Privacy, which prevents profiling of users by the way they type by randomizing the rate at which characters reach the DOM.